The Lord said to
me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)
The Plumbline is a
blog to encourage the Body of Christ.
Body, Soul and Spirit: # 4
"Except ye ... become as little
children." (Matthew 18:3t)
The Lord Jesus teaches that moral progress must start from a
point of moral innocence, and is consequently only possible to a man when he
has been born again. A child's life is implicit, not explicit. To become
"as little children" means to receive a new heredity, a totally new
nature, the essence of which is simplicity and confidence towards God. In order
to develop the moral life innocence must be transformed into virtue by a series
of deliberate choices in which the present pleasure is sacrificed for the
ultimate joy of being good. This aspect of truth is familiar in all Paul's
Epistles, i.e. that the natural has to be transformed into the spiritual by
willing obedience to the word and will of God. Romans 12:2 (ESV) Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern
what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
("... be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind:") and Ephesians 4:23 ("be renewed in the spirit of your
mind") apply directly to the moral life of those who have been
supernaturally saved by the grace of God, those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells
and is at work. To renew means to transform to new life. These passages make it
clear that we can be renewed in our mind when we choose. We have no choice
about being born into this world, but to be born again, if we will but come to
Jesus and receive His Spirit, is within our own power. This is true all along
in the Christian life, you can be renewed in the spirit of your mind when you
choose, you can revive your mind on any line you like by sheer force of will.
Always remember that Jesus Christ's statements force an issue of will and
conscience first, and only as we obey is there the understanding with the mind
(see John 7:17). The challenge to the will comes in the matter of study, as
long as you remain in the "stodge" state there is no mental
progress-"I am overwhelmed by the tremendous amount there is to know and
it's no use my going on." If you will forge through that stage you will
suddenly turn a corner where everything that was difficult and perplexing
becomes as clear as a lightning flash, but it all depends on whether you will
forge ahead. When people say, "Preach us the simple Gospel," what
they mean is, "Preach us the thing we have always heard, the thing that
keeps us sound asleep, we don't want to see things differently"; then the
sooner the Spirit of God sends a thrust through their stagnant minds the
better. Continual renewal of mind is the only healthy state for a Christian. Beware
of the ban of finality about your present views1.
There are THREE things God will not do for you! (1) He will
not renew your mind. (2) He will not feed your spiritual man. (3) He will not
crucify your flesh. Romans 8:5 teaches us "Do mind the things of the
Spirit." We are the only solution to this command. The believer is to
study, read and embrace the Word of God. In so doing he'll be renewing the
mind. The spiritual man is not fed by watching TV, movies, or video's. The
spiritual man is fed by and through the eternal Word of God, the Bread of Life,
being ingested by the believer on a daily and regular basis. God will not do
this for you! Finally, the believer must realize he is responsible for putting
to DEATH or CRUCIFING the desires of his own flesh. Paul declares this to be a
daily occurrence. 1
Corinthians 15:31 (NASB) I affirm, brethren...in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die
daily. See the Dean Diagram. 1.
1Chambers, O. (1996). Biblical ethics. Hants UK:
Marshall, Morgan & Scott. I
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